GHANA: DRAFT CONSTITUTION BILL PROPOSES TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY

March 17, 2014: the Constitution Review and Implementation Committee (CRIC) submitted a draft bill for the amendment of entrenched provisions in the 1992 Constitution to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Chairman of the CRIC, Professor Emmanuel Victor Oware Dankwa, said in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra.
The draft bill calls for the abolition of the death penalty and asks for it to be substituted with life imprisonment.
It also asks that the prerogative of mercy should not be extended to people who have committed high treason, treason, genocide, murder or narcotic offences, except in circumstances determined by a medical board.
The submission of the draft bill paves the way towards the conduct of a referendum to decide whether or not Ghanaians are in favour of the amendments.
From the Attorney-General, the bill is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet for discussion, after which it will be referred to Parliament and later to the Council of State.
The bill will then be sent back to Parliament for it to give its approval for the conduct of the referendum. The referendum is likely to be held concurrently with the district assembly elections in November 2014, Prof. Dankwah noted.
Forty per cent of the electorate is required to participate in the referendum and 75 per cent of that figure is required to vote in favour of the amendment before the President gives accent to it. (Sources: modernghana.com, 17/03/2014)